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She told the Irish Independent: "She told me that at least one teacher was panicking,

"The level of hysteria among the students was shocking. One of the sixth-year students was screaming, telling everyone to stay indoors.

"I just can't understand it,

"First of all, how could they think about doing something like this to promote a show and how people dressed up as clowns with what looks like a chainsaw and a sledgehammer could get into a school."

In a letter to parents, school principal Derek Lowry said the clowns "entered the school campus without any authorisation" and that one of them "was carrying a prop that looked identical to a chainsaw".

Mr Lowry said school authorities had met with local gardaí after the scare and have been in contact with the promotion company involved following the incident last Thursday.